Three men are in custody after having been arrested in Naperville in a stolen car carrying multiple machine guns, ammunition and drugs Saturday evening.
On Saturday evening at approximately 11:02pm, Naperville police officers conducting surveillance in the Bowlero parking lot at 1515 Aurora Avenue in Naperville allegedly observed a Honda Accord affixed with a temporary registration that came back to a 2008 Nissan. While surveilling the vehicle, officers observed three men enter the vehicle.
According to the police, after the Honda was started officers pulled their squad car in front of the vehicle, pinning it in, at which time the vehicle reversed and struck an unoccupied vehicle behind it. Another Naperville squad car pinned in the rear of the vehicle, at which point the defendants exited the car and fled on foot. After a brief foot pursuit, all three defendants were taken into custody.
After returning to the Honda, the officers observed a Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun with an extended magazine and one bullet in the chamber in plain view near the center console. The Glock 22 was also equipped with a switch that converts the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun. Officers subsequently recovered additional weapons including a loaded Glock 19 handgun with one bullet in the chamber which was reported stolen out of Indiana, a loaded Glock 27 .40 caliber handgun with a fifty-round drum attachment that was equipped with a switch that converts the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun, a loaded American tactical omni hybrid rifle with one bullet in the chamber, three loaded magazines and two boxes of ammunition. Officers also recovered 54 grams of cannabis, 21.4 grams of cocaine, 5.2 grams of heroin as well as three full pills and four half-pills of MDMA from the Honda.
Further investigation also found that the Honda was reported stolen out of Chicago.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Naperville Chief of Police Jason Arres announced today that Judge Joshua Dieden granted the State’s motion to deny pre-trial release for the men, who range in age from 19-27, none of whom are residents of Naperville. Each have been charged with multiple felonies.
“Public safety is the top priority of my office and the allegations that these three men unlawfully possessed extremely dangerous, fully loaded weapons, two of which that are capable of firing as a machine gun, at a family-friendly entertainment facility are alarming,” Berlin said. “The quick apprehension of the defendants in this case sends the message that in DuPage County we will not hesitate to remove firearms from those who cannot legally possess them. Thanks to the vigilance of the Naperville Police Department, an arsenal of dangerous weapons has been removed from the streets and quite possibly a tragedy has been averted.”
The next court appearance for two of the accused is scheduled for January 2, 2024, for arraignment, while the third is scheduled for January 12, 2024.
